Throttle control for steam automobiles



Filed Aug. 5, 1921 L L SCOTT THROTTLE CONTROL FOR STEAM AUTOMOBILES May 19, 1925.

W :INVEN'T R 4 BY ATTORNEY 'tomobiles, of which the specification.

mobile.

unbalanced,

' a plan view of the rear end of a Patented May 19,1925.

LEWIS L: SCOTT, OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI.

THROTTLE oonTRoI. FOR sTEAi/r AUTOMOBILES.

Application filed, August 5, 1921. Serial No. 490,064.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, LEWIS L. Soon, a citizen of the United States, residing in the city of St. Louis and State of Missouri, have invented new and useful Improvements in Throttle Controls for Steam Aufollowing is a This invention relates to a novel apparatus for controlling th flow of steam from the boiler to the engine of a steam auto- The invention is designed more particularly for use in steam automobiles, although not limited to such application, and the leading characteristics thereof are,

that by means of the apparatus herein described I am able to operate the steam throttle valve, which opens against high steam pressure with very little power.

The object of this invention is to provide a simple means for balancing the steam throttle valve so that the same can be perated by a foot lever as well as a hand lever.

The steam pressure used on steam automobiles is usually 600 lbs. It is desirable to arrange the throttle valve so that it opens against the steam pressure, so that said steam pressure will tend to keep the throttle valve closed. The usual method of opening the throttle valve is with a hand lever located on the steering wheel column. It is very diflicult 'to properly control the fiow of steam with a hand throttle that is it is next to impossible to opcrate an unbalanced throttle with a foot lever. It is very desirable to have the throttle arranged so that it can be operated with a foot lever as well as a hand lever, so that both hands may be used to manage the steering wheel.

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings in which: Figure 1 is steam automobile, the front part of frame being broken away. Figure 2 is a sectional view of the throttle valve and parts controlling same. Figure 3 is a. side view of Figure 2, same parts being broken away.

Referring now to the drawing, the numeral 1 indicates the body of the throttle valve, 2 is th throttle valve which has its seat at 3 in the body 1. Steam enters the casting 1 through the pipe 1 (from the boiler which is not shown) and when the throttle valve 2 is open, passes through the Any suitable means may be pipe 5to the engine 6 which is mounted on the rear axle as shown in my United States IPatent 1,358,117 of November 9, 1920. .7 indicates the frame and 8 indicates the rear wheels of an automobile.

The throttle valve 2 is provided with a stem 9 which projects out through the casting 1. A stufling box 10 prevents leakage of steam past the stem 9. The stem 9 carries a lug 11. A,oonnecting rod 12 is .attached to lug-11 by the. pin 13, the-other end,- of the connec-tingrod' 12 is mounted on the crank pin 14 of the crank arm 15, said crank arm 15 is secured to the throttle rod 16 so that if the throttle rod 16 is oscillated the throttle valve 2 will b either .opened or closed. A hearing 17 supports the rod 16 at its lower' end, and the bearing 18 supports the rod at its upper end. 19 indicates the steering column of an automobile. The bearing 18 is secured to the steering column. 20 indicates the hand lever which is secured to the end of the rod 16.

, pfovided for latching said hand lever when the throttle valve 2 is in a closed position. The part 21 'is secured to the rod 16 and bears against a spring 22, the spring 22 beingadjustable by the screw 23. The spring 22 is adjusted so that it will just balance the working steam pressure. That is to say, the part 21 acts as a lever, under the power of spring 22, and tends to turn the rod 16 in a direction to force the stem 9 and valve 2 inward against thepressure of the steam on the valve" holding it to its seat. When the valve 2 is opened, the power of spring 29 is exerted, on release of the hand or foot throttle, to close the valve, should the adjustment of balance by spring 22 be such as to permit the valve to be balanced by steam pressure in an open position in the casing 1. The valve 2 is practically balanced by the steam, after said valve is opened. 24 indicates a bevel gear which is secured to the rod 116. A bevel gear 25 meshes with the gear 24s and is secured to the shaft 26 which shaft is carried by the bearing supports 27 A lever 28 is secured to theshaft 26, said lfever being adapted to be operated by the cot.

A spring 29 is attached to the arm 30 of the lever 28 for the purpose of returning levers 20 and 28 to normal position when they are released.

It is assumed that the spring 22 is adloo justed so as to just balance the steam pressure so that very little effort will be required to open the throttle valve, which can b operated either by hand lever 20 or foot lever 28. After the throttle valve 2 has been opened, say by operating lever 28, and it is desired to stop the engine 6, all that is necessary is to release the lever 28 and the spring 29 will close said valve 2 as will be plainly seen. It will be observed that the valve is balanced by means located exteriorly of the casing of the valve, and hence such means are not exposed to moisture or heat from the steam, either of which would have a deleterious action on the balancing means. That is to say, variations in temperature would result in variations in the tension of the spring 22, in the specific embodiment of my invention shown, and moisture would, of course, exert its ordinary corroding effect.

I claim:

1. A valve for controlling the flo'w of steam to a steam engine, comprising a valve casing, a valve therein subject to the pressure of the steam, a manually-operated device associated with said valve for opening and closing the same, and means located exteriorly of said casing and associated with said opening and closing device for balancing said valve against the steam pres.- sure.

2. A valve for controlling the flow of.

steam to a steam engine, comprising a valve casing, a-valve therein seated by the pressure of the steam, and having a stem pro- I jecting beyond the casing, a manually-operated device for operating said stem to open and close said valve, and means assocasing,

spring ciated -with said opening and closing device and located exteriorly of said casing ing and closing the same, and a spring as-' sociated with said opening and closing device and located exteriorly of said casing for balancing said valve against the steam pressure.

4. A valve for controlling the fiow of steam to a steam engine, comprising a valve a valve therein seated by the pressure of the steam, a manually-operated device associated with said valve for opening and closing the same, and a short scale associated with said opening and closing device and located exteriorly of said casing for balancing said valve against the steam. pressure.

5. A valv for controlling the flow of steam to a steam engine, comprising a valve casing, a valve therein, a manually-operated device associated with said valve for opening and closing the same, a spring associated with said opening and closing device and located exteriorly of said casing for balancing said valve, said spring tending to open said valve, and th steampressure within said casing tending to keep LEWIS L. SCOTT.

a valve therein subject to the pres- 

